Powell says Fed will be ‘patient’ with monetary policy in 2019

Jonathon Greene

The Dow Jones Industrial Average thrust off its recent bearish trend during mid-day trading on Friday, surging to a 700 point gain after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reassured investors that the central bank would take stock market conditions into account when deciding whether to hike interest rates.

DXY's up move to the 96.60 region, or session highs, is now an ephemeral memory as a outcome of the dovish tone from Chief Powell's speech at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association. That suggests the Fed won't tighten again in March, she said. Data released earlier on Friday showed USA employers added the most workers in 10 months as wage gains accelerated.

The dollar weakened, Treasury yields advanced and USA stocks extended gains as investors interpreted the Fed chairman as sounding as if he sees scope to wait and see how the economy performs before raising interest rates again.

The Fed is "listening sensitively" to the market signals, as well as data showing that inflation rates remain relatively muted, he added.

He added that, if needed, "we are always prepared to shift the stance of policy and to shift it significantly".

In response to questions, Powell also signaled a willingness to include changes to the Fed's gradual run-off of its balance-sheet in any review of monetary policy.

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